compact

adjective · noun · verb

Simple meaning

Small and neatly fitted into a little space.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

kahmpakt

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈkɑmpækt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

Closely and firmly united or packed together
Closely packed or densely constituted; having much material in a small volume.
Having all necessary features fitting neatly into a small space.
of prose
Brief and pithy; not verbose.
Such that every open cover has a finite subcover. In a metric space, this is equivalent to being sequentially compact. In metric spaces with the Heine-Borel property, this is equivalent to being closed and bounded.
Compact in the above sense and moreover Hausdorff.

noun

A signed written agreement between two or more parties (nations) to perform some action
An agreement or contract.
A small cosmetics case with a mirror; to be carried in a woman's purse
A slim folding case, often featuring a mirror, powder and a powder puff, small enough to fit in a woman's purse, handbag, or pocket.
An automobile that is larger than a subcompact but smaller than an intermediate.
A broadsheet newspaper published in the size of a tabloid but keeping its non-sensational style.

verb

intransitive
To form an agreement or contract.
transitive
To make more dense; to compress.
To unite or connect firmly, as in a system.
Make more compact by or as if by pressing

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: B1 · Intermediate
Frequency: Common
Typical Use: Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Closely and firmly united or packed together

Used this way, compact is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone: Neutral
Formality: Neutral
Intensity: Not strongly marked
How common: Moderately common
Connotation: No strong connotation
Usage feel: Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

thickset , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use compact

“She found a compact mirror in her small handbag.”adjective

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

compact disccompact diskcompact formcompact masscompact bonecompact bodyless compact

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

compactnessnounDerived noun
The spatial property of being crowded together.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

compact disc recordablenounCompound term
A compact disc on which you can write only once and thereafter is read-only memory.
compact disc write-oncenounCompound term
A compact disc on which you can write only once and thereafter is read-only memory.
compact disknounCompound term
A digitally encoded recording on an optical disk that is smaller than a phonograph record.
compact-disk burnernounCompound term
Recording equipment for making compact disks.
compact discnounCompound term
A digitally encoded recording on an optical disk that is smaller than a phonograph record.
compact disc read-only memorynounCompound term
A compact disk that is used with a computer (rather than with an audio system).

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

subcompact carnounRelated term
A car smaller than a compact car.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

adjective

Sense: closely and firmly united or packed together

densethicksetRare

noun

Sense: signed written agreement between two

contractcovenantconcordat

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.